Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Thursday, August 11, 2016.
- Weather: Hotter and humid
It will be hot and humid Thursday, with a high of 91 and a low of 78. Make sure to stay hydrated because the heat index could make it feel like 102. [AccuWeather]
- Michael Sacks: Rahm’s “go-to adviser” and top donor
Not only is GCM Grosvenor CEO Michael Sacks the biggest donor to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s campaigns—he’s given more than $2.8 million— he’s also becoming an increasingly important adviser to the mayor, according to Chicago magazine. (Sacks is also a board member of and investor in Wrapports, the Reader‘s parent company.) Although the businessman doesn’t like to discuss his “private conversations” with Rahm, their friend political strategist David Axelrod says that the mayor gives Sacks assignments such as renegotiating the parking meter deal and the stopgap state budget. “He has no inhibition about bringing Rahm bad news,” Axelrod told the magazine. “He’s utterly candid, brutally so sometimes, and Rahm tolerates it.” There’s also speculation that Sacks could follow in the footsteps of another friend, Governor Bruce Rauner, into the political arena and run for mayor or governor in the future. [Chicago]
- African-American police officers discuss police brutality issues
Many black police officers in Chicago are a part of two different worlds. They understand why activists are upset by police shootings of unarmed citizens and other instances of brutality—some even say they have experienced discrimination from other cops—but they don’t agree with the attacks on the Chicago Police Department while shootings in the city are surging. “There are good and bad in every profession, any profession, and I don’t deny we have bad cops,” a cop who did not want to be identified told the Tribune. Many of the officers believe that the department needs to hire more black cops. Only about 23 percent of CPD officers are black despite the fact that 32 percent of the city’s population is black. Black cops sometimes can get black witnesses, victims and accused criminals to open up more than white officers can, according to the Tribune. [Tribune]
- Breaking down the Chicago Public Schools’ 2017 budget
Chicago Public Schools head Forrest Claypool says that the newly announced CPS budget for the 2017 fiscal year is “balanced,” but there are many people upset with the $31 million in cuts, including cuts to classrooms. Schools are set to get 9 percent less in funding for core instruction than they were expecting to. WBEZ has broken down where the money is going and where it’ll be cut. [WBEZ]
- A tornado touched down in the city Tuesday for the first time since 2006
It may have been difficult to tell, but a tornado touched down in the city Tuesday afternoon in the Cicero neighborhood. Fortunately no damage was reported. A few observant people caught some great pictures and videos of the tornado from Midway Airport and the Willis Tower. [DNAinfo Chicago]
- Report: Brooklyn could have more people than Chicago soon
Brooklyn might be just a borough of New York City, but surprisingly, it could soon be more populous than Chicago (for the first time since 1890). The population of Brooklyn grew by 5 percent between 2010 and 2015, and only 84,000 more residents need to move there for it to surpass Chicago’s population of about 2.7 million people. [Curbed New York]